Two acres of land has been donated to the Medicine Hat Hindu Association for the construction of their new temple. It will be located east of the grain silo near Kin Coulee Park (Tiffany Goodwein /CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Medicine Hat could be getting its first Hindu temple

Dec 5, 2021 | 1:51 PM

MEDICINE HAT,AB– Plans are in the works to build Medicine Hat’s first Hindu Temple.

Husband and wife Koti Reddy and Sagundhala Mohandass, have purchased two acres of land east of the grain silo near Kin Coulee Park.

The couple will be donating the land in honour of both their fathers who helped shape them into who they are today.

“With the blessings of our parents, we have both reached good positions in life.They are the main backbone of our life. Without them we wouldn’t have reached this stage,” Reddy said.

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Reddy and Mohandass who are both physiotherapists moved to the city in 2014. Their hope is that the new temple will help bring people together, especially newcomers to Medicine Hat.

“ When we came to Medicine Hat we had a little bit of a hard time to get to a more routine life, because we didn’t have many interactions. It was hard to find people, and you go to work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and you don’t have anyone to talk to. We were finding it very hard to connect with people initially,” Reddy said.

Luckily Reddy and his wife found the Medicine Hat Hindu Association, which helped his family build connections, and friendships. Those friendships and having a sense of belonging even helped Reddy settle in Medicine Hat to the point that Reddy and his wife decided to launch their own clinic.

The Medicine Hat Hindu Association has been growing in recent years with approximately 100 families who are members.

“We are seeing so many new families coming in every day, and sometimes especially because of COVID-19 we have missed so many families at the Medicine Hat Hindu Association group and when we see them at Superstore or Walmart sometimes we just bond with them, and they say ‘ is there Hindu people here? Is there people from our peer group here? And they don’t know that something like the Medicine Hat Hindu Association is existing. But if we have a temple, wherever we go we first search for our traditions,” said Mohandass.

Mohandas added that India is very diverse and having a temple will help promote unity and diversity in Medicine Hat. It will also help teach younger generations about their traditions, cultures, and values.

Construction on the temple is dependent on funding and City approval. The Medicine Hat Hindu Association is hoping to raise $1 million towards the building of the temple. If they reach their goal they are hoping to start construction by next year.

“We are very grateful for this land donation. We hope that it brings positive development to the community itself and we welcome all,” said Medicine Hat Hindu Association president Ranjeet Gaekwad.